Princess
and Buddha is a sexy tale of desire and betrayal as college professor,
Victoria Neve, steps out of the comfort of her academic world and into
the Seattle grunge music scene in pursuit of Billy Fields, a charming
yet volatile young grunge girl with a sordid past. Set in the Seattle
grunge era, Billy Fields embodies the conflicted grunge movement: carefree
and self-destructive. When she meets the striking
Victoria,
she sees in her an opportunity to improve her life, and places her faith
and dreams in this new relationship. Victoria, on the other hand, finds
in Billy a world of passion and personal freedom that she has never
experienced. The pair is swept up into a world of desire that effaces
their differences in class and education. Soon, however, the pressures
from Billys substance abuse past and Victorias upper-class
mindset break into both of their fantasies. Billys love of life
and living for the moment is overshadowed by her inner turmoil and haunting
demons of the past. Victoria uses Billys past transgressions as
a means of escape when she is faced with issues of commitment to Billy
and the relationship they have formed. When
Billy experiences the backlash of Victorias emotional openness
she spirals into an abyss of drugs and crime. Victoria retreats into
the familiarity of her career and a safe, yet passionless, relationship
with an admiring
colleague.

From Billys
climatic arrest the story jumps forward two years when Billy is
released from prison and decides to take another chance on Victoria.
It
initially appears that history is to repeat itself, but Victoria soon
learns
that the emotional dynamics have shifted. The new Billy is someone to
be
reckoned with and Victorias old habits of deception and emotional
detachment have run their course. Victoria and Billy are given another
chance to find out what is true and what is love.

The short
film FREE PARKING which takes place in the 1970s in a middle class rural
home, playfully investigates the power dynamics between siblings when
two young sisters, Shannon, 5, and Janet, 11 are sent to the fields
to pickberries. Janet sets the stage in the opening scene where the
two are playing Monopoly on the living room floor. Janet manipulates
the situation to keep Shannon in debt and in the game. When their mother
signals the end of the game, Janet brings the rules of the game to bear
on their chores by partitioning off the field and bestowing Shannon
with the less desired “properties”. Shannon is subjected
to rent and taxes when, knowingly or unknowingly, she steps on Janet’s
property. Janet’s bowl continues to grow, and Shannon’s
is continuously emptied. When the oppressed Shannon attempts to take
a stand make it on her own in her designated property, she is intimidated
back to the “protection” of her older sister by the strong
suggestion of a snake infestation. At the end of the day does it matter
who has picked the most berries if they both enjoy blackberry pie?

This
Character Study, with a duration of 10 minutes, was shot in four days
on an all volunteer cast and crew. The exteriors were shot in Monroe,
Washington. The Interior was shot at a residence on Whidbey Island.
A grant by the Seattle Lesbian and Gay Festival in partnership with
Oppenheimer Camera supplied the 16mm film camera and accessories. Ryan
Purcell caught the beautiful golden and green hues of rural Washington
on Kodak super 16mm. The location in Monroe gives a perfect example
of what most of “greater” Seattle looked like in the 1970s,
complete with log cabin, old gray barn, grain silo and resplendent mountains
in the background. At that age (both of the children and the decade)
the physical world appeared so much bigger. To give the sense of the
importance of the physical world the colors are very rich and tangible.
At times the children are swallowed up in the field of yellow and green.
This is a time before the sisters know who they are, or will be in their
adult sexual life; a time before television showed much options or diversity
in American life. Their parents have an infant son; the father works;
and the mother takes care of the home. The sisters’ dominant relationship
is with each other. The power dynamics developed in that encapsulated
existence is what they will bring to their adult life. I tried to show
this by setting up the Monopoly game first and showing how the power
Janet held over Shannon in the game is translated into their work. Shannon’s
acceptance of her position is not entirely passive. She is learning
how to navigate under the dominance of her sister. In the end I hope
for it to be a beautiful story about love and power, and a small study
on human existence.